How long will dyed eggs keep?

Q. We're planning to dye hard-boiled eggs for Easter. How long do hard-boiled eggs keep and how long can they sit out once they've been dyed?

A. Having checked with the American Egg Board and the Egg Safety Center for answers to your questions, I realize that I am lucky to be alive today.  When I was a kid, we'd spend all afternoon coloring Easter eggs.   After we went to bed, my parents would hide them around the house and yard for us to look for in the morning. Once we'd (hopefully) found them all, they'd be displayed for the rest of the day in a big bowl. Eventually, they'd go back in the fridge, where we'd snack on them for the next week or so. 

As an adult, I lived for a while in Europe and I was initially startled to learn that many European housewives never refrigerate their eggs, storing them in a cupboard or in a wooden box on the counter until they were used.  Although I continued to refrigerate my own eggs, I certainly ate a lot of unrefrigerated eggs while I lived there and never got sick.

But according to the people who should know best, here are the rules for eggs:

1. Discard any eggs that are cracked.

2. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling raw, cooked, or dyed eggs.

3. Make sure dyes are warmer than the egg, which prevents dyes and bacteria on the surface from being absorbed into the interior.

4. Discard any eggs (raw or boiled) that have been unrefrigerated for longer than two consecutive hours.

5. Eat hard-boiled eggs within one week of boiling.

Like I said, I'm not sure an Easter ever went by that we didn't break most of those rules.  But if you want to minimize your risk of food-borne illness, those are the official guidelines.

Incidentally, organic eggs are not immune from bacterial contamination (as discussed in this recent post) so all the same rules apply!